Health

7:20 pm

Thu April 5, 2012

Senate Begins Battle Over Abortion Funding

Thursday, members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee considered a bill that would ban public funding of facilities that provide abortion. Opponents of the bill, which has already been approved by the House, say it could jeopardize $700 million in federal Medicaid funds. The bill's sponsor, Republican of Rochester Warren Groen, says preventing the state from funding abortion is a smarter way to use scare with public dollars.

"The goal here is efficient use of taxpayer dollars so that the taxpayer dollars can be focused in the best way to provide healthcare for women in the most holistic way," says Groen.

Groen says that hospitals and clinics in New Hampshire could create separate business entities to to provide abortion.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the measure later this session.